Walsh follows world record with first Olympic berth

Gretchen Walsh has followed up a world record in the 100m butterfly with something that felt just as good.

Her first trip to the Olympics.

Walsh didn't go quite as fast as a night earlier in the semi-finals, but she touched in 55.31 seconds to claim the coveted Olympic berth against a loaded field at the US Olympic swimming trials on Sunday.

On the second night of action at Lucas Oil Stadium, Indianapolis, Carson Foster made up for the disappointment of 2021, when he just missed out on the Olympics, with a victory in the men's 400m individual medley.

And 30-year-old Nic Fink, whose wife is expecting a child, made it quite a Father's Day by winning the 100m breaststroke.

Looking into the stands toward Melanie Margolis Fink — herself a gold medallist at the 2016 Rio Games — he made a rocking motion.

Clearly, Nic Fink's mind was on more than just a gold of his own.

Facing three medallists from the Tokyo Games, Walsh knew she had her work cut out for her — even after setting a world record in the semis with a time of 55.18 that broke the mark held by Sweden's Sarah Sjoestroem since the 2016 Olympics.

Following the same strategy, Walsh went out strong again in the final and was under her world-record pace at the turn.

Then, it was a matter of the 21-year-old hanging on.

She finished with the second-fastest time in history, while Torri Huske grabbed the second Olympic spot with a time of 55.52 that made her the third-fastest woman in swimming history.

"I couldn't ask for a better start to the meet," Walsh said.

The first final of the night produced another first-time Olympian when 22-year-old Foster knocked off Tokyo gold medallist Chase Kalisz, finishing in four minutes 7.64 seconds.

But Kalisz (4:09.39) should get a chance to defend his gold in Paris, taking the runner-up spot to claim the expected second American slot.

At the 2021 trials in Nebraska, Foster was the top seed coming out of the preliminaries, only to get chased down by both Kalisz and Jay Litherland in the final.

The third-place finish cost Foster a trip to the Tokyo Games, where the Americans went 1-2.

Fink will be heading to his second Olympics after touching first in 59.08. He held off Charlie Swanson, who secured the expected second spot for Paris in 59.16.

"That's a win for me," Fink said, "but it's really a win for everybody in my life."

A life that will soon have a new addition.